SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, 31st May. (EUROPA PRESS) –
TEA Tenerife Espacio de las Artes, a contemporary art hub of the Cabildo, will unveil ‘Orocobix. Memory of the first mountain’ this Friday at 7:00 p.m., featuring a retrospective view of a decade of creations by artist Jorge González (Puerto Rico, 1981) and his multidisciplinary research and practice platform ‘Escuela de Oficios’. The processes of ‘Escuela de Oficios’ forge a connection between the landscape, the human body, materials, and well-being.
Tenerife’s Minister of Culture and Museums, José Carlos Acha – who introduced this new exhibit alongside TEA’s Head of Temporary Exhibitions Department, Néstor Delgado, curator Michy Marxuach, and artist Jorge González – emphasised that “Orocobix is the inaugural exhibition dedicated to González in the Canary Islands”. The display showcases “artisanal procedures that link various regions of Central America, the Caribbean, and the Canary Islands.”
José Carlos Acha elaborated on this exhibition proposal – accessible for free viewing until 25th August, from Tuesday to Sunday and holidays from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. – “proposing an educational arena about artisanal methodologies related to the conversion of energy into substance, spanning from fire to symbolism, art, or the connections fostered through this knowledge and the lands from which they originate.”
Additionally, he announced that in light of this inauguration, the artist Jorge González will lead a guided tour of ‘Orocobix’ this Saturday at 5:00 p.m., accompanied by the curator.
“When discussing culture, we also deliberate on its participatory nature, its inclusivity in society, and the perpetual preservation of memory. All of these aspects are depicted in this exhibition, unveiling numerous parallels between the Canary Islands and Puerto Rico,” added the councillor.
Néstor Delgado communicated that “Trade School, the culmination of an extensive process, connects various communities, individuals.”
During his address, he highlighted a correlation between this new exhibition and that of Adrián Alemán, as both showcases, offering a retrospective insight, feature a plethora of unseen works.
“Both exhibitions, in a way, reflect on the museum as a site for ceremonies, museums as socialisation spaces that enable collective reflection,” he noted.
Michy Marxuach mentioned that part of this endeavour entailed re-exploring and intertwining within the terrain and the diverse entities residing within it.
“The materials utilised in Orocobix and the methodologies employed will prompt us to sense and reconsider our existential processes at a juncture when we are detached from many elements,” articulated the curator, who believes this exhibition necessitates pausing to reflect on history, ancestry, and the future.
Furthermore, Jorge González, acknowledging that this exhibition is “the culmination of an ongoing evolution,” expounded that the title stems from “an ancient voice” of Arawak-Taíno lineage, potentially translating to o (mountain), roco (recall or acknowledge), and bi (life, commencement, first) and could be interpreted as ‘I recollect the prime mountain’.
PUERTO RICO MOUNTAINS
Furthermore, ‘Orocobix’ signifies a moniker affiliated with Puerto Rico’s mountainous region now recognised as Aibonito, Barranquitas, Morovis, Ciales, and Orocovis. As such, this exhibition also summons, through this term, commitments, convergence of forms, substances, intentions, desires, yields, cultivation, and fabrics, amidst beings.
“In ‘Orocobix’, there exists an aspiration to fathom one another from a profound source, from the innermost core. There is a grand embrace within this realm, a pillar of ancestry, encompassing instances of care and nurturing, to be collectively embraced,” remarked Jorge González, elucidating that the exhibition provides moments of jubilation and introspection on losses, struggles, conflicts, and empowerment for which we must advocate.
According to Michy Marxuach, “González’s oeuvre continually prompts us to contemplate how we assimilate Western academic tutelage and positions us in front of the critical juncture of pondering our indigeneity within our contemporary construction.”
In her view, “rather than attempting to categorise one or the other, his work addresses the subject matter, engages with the material, and compels us to conscientiously labour on the systematisation influencing and defining us.”
